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GaW Bases and Battlestations
Reference Book: Star Wars Saga Edition Galaxy at War No military campaign is complete without missions to infiltrate, sabotage, or destroy the opposing force's base of operations. Whether this means breaking into an Imperial prison colony to rescue a Rebel agent or piloting a Starfighter into the heart of The Death Star, military campaigns are full of adventures that involve heavily defended locales. This chapter covers everything the Gamemaster needs to create exciting adventuring sites- hereafter referred to generically as "Battlestations"- from basic concepts all the way through encounter design. A Battlestation is more than just a Death Star or some other massive superweapon. In this chapter, the term "Battlestation" means a fortified and actively defended location where adventures will take place. A Battlestation can come in many forms, whether it is a Space Station, a ground installation, or a Capital Ship. Of course, before the villains can wreak havoc with a Battlestation of the heroes can commandeer it for their own noble purposes, the place has to be built. This chapter not only covers the basic rules for assigning statistical values to the various aspects of a Battlestation, but also introduces factors that affect a station in the game. Moreover, it includes specific environment rules for creating encounters on Battlestations. The Battlestation Tool Kit This chapter is more than just a collection of rules and advice on designing bases and locations; it serves as a guide to creating a wide variety of adventuring settings. Although much of this chapter discusses rooms and locales inside Battlestations, this information can also be applied to a wide variety of adventuring locations. The rules described in this chapter work just as well for creating an adventure where the heroes have to stage a raid on a high-rise industrial skyscraper as they do for an adventure where the heroes need to take out a shield generator on a remote moon. When picking up material from this chapter for your own campaign, simply be mindful of the basic principles behind things like Battlestation CL and expected attack bonuses, skill DCs, and damage rolls. Those concepts can apply to many places, not just Bases and Battlestations, and can be useful in a wide range of situations. Introduction to Battlestation Design Main Article: Introduction to Battlestation Design Before delving too far into assigning statistics and preparing deck plans and layouts, it is important to set down some basic ideologies and philosophies for Battlestation design. A hastily constructed Battlestation might be just another superweapon or an unremarkable base, but a well-planned station can be a great addition to any campaign. By putting some effort into the station's construction, you can ensure that your locale will be both exciting and memorable. Why Use Battlestations? When you think of Star Wars, not many Battlestations come to mind immediately. In fact, there are only a few such sites in the films. The two Death Stars are prominent examples in the Star Wars saga, although the chance to adventure on either is somewhat limited by the timeframe of their existence and the actions of the Rebels. Beyond the Death Stars, however, the films feature many different locations and environments that could be described as Battlestations. Remember, a Battlestation can be a basic fortified lair, but it also can be a space platform to a massive Starship or ground-based security complex. Almost any artificial structure constructed with defense in mind can be built using the guidelines in this chapter, so that you can take advantage of locations that already exist in the movies and other media. Chances are that many of the places your party has explored, from a Super Star Destroyer to a smuggling den hidden in an asteroid field, are Battlestations in their own right. Other good examples of Battlestations in the Star Wars films include the Theed Palace reactor chambers in The Phantom Menace, the Geonosian Droid factory in Attack of the Clones, and the Endor bunker in Return of the Jedi. Battlestations make excellent adventuring locales. They provide a sense of mystery and suspense, always keeping the heroes wondering what's down the next hallway of behind the next door. Stations present numerous opportunities for dangerous exploration, since they frequently contain automated defense systems and booby traps that can cause a lot of trouble for an adventuring party. Similarly, living and Droid security units react forcefully to intruders, and with a creatively designed interior, such combat encounters can be cinematic and unique. Battlestations often present challenges to a party that can be solved only with quick thinking and resourceful problem solving. After all, it is far easier to lay down fire in a cantina than it is to do so in a magnetically sealed room. Likewise, Battlestations offer heroic opportunities to characters of all types. Certainly the more dangerous stations crawling with Stormtroopers and Battle Droids give Soldiers and Jedi plenty of enemies to shoot and slice their way through. No two Battlestations are the same, but the adaptability of Scouts and Scoundrels means that even situations for which a party was not prepared can be overcome with a little improvisation. Nobles, whose interpersonal skills are unrivaled, can use their talents for acting and smooth talking to convince security that everything is under control. Almost every character type has something to do on a Battlestation. Adventures on Battlestations bring an epic feel to campaigns, but more than that, they add variety to an already vast galaxy. With proper planning, these stations not only stand out in the minds of the players but also keep the whole party involved and in highest form. The heroes can't slide through with only minimal or halfhearted effort, which means that Battlestations make excellent additions to any campaign where the GM wants to turn up the intensity. Battlestation Challenge Level Main Article: Battlestation Challenge Level The Battlestations that are designed using the system in this chapter are based around the station's Challenge Level (CL). A Battlestation's CL is a number between 1 and 20 that helps you to gauge how difficult adventures in the station should be and allows for quick construction without requiring too much worry about whether the encounters are too hard or too easy. It is important to select the CL early so that you can develop your Battlestation as you go rather than having to make decisions on the fly. A Battlestation's CL is very similar to the CL used for individual opponents such as Stormtroopers and TIE Fighters. However, unlike the CL of individual opponents, the CL of a station is merely an overarching guideline for determining attacks, defenses, and the Difficulty Class of Skill Checks. When designing a Battlestation as part of an adventure, the best approach is to build the station around the party rather than choosing a fixed CL and trying to construct a station to match. In other words, determine the station's CL by looking at the party's level. For a group of five characters, the Battlestation's CL should roughly equal the character's average level, although it can be higher for tougher adventures or lower for easier ones. Battlestation Interior Locations Once you have determined the Battlestation's Challenge Level, you can start building the interior and preparing it for the arrival of the heroes. This section describes a number of common rooms that you can use in the construction of a Battlestation. Simply choose the types of locations that you need for your adventure, or create your own using one or more of the examples as a starting point. Knowing your heroes' goals (Why they're going into the station) should help you select appropriate rooms, but consider becoming familiar with all the locations in advance. By doing so, you will be better prepared to improvise if the players deviate from the planned adventure by taking actions that you did not anticipate. The interior locations described below are basic representations that do not necessarily reflect what each location might be like in a fully developed Battlestation. Later in the chapter, other aspects such as computer systems, security systems, and station hazards will be added to make each location unique and challenging. * Airlock * Barracks * Command Bridge ** Backup Bridge ** Control Room * Corridor * Gunnery Tower * Hangar Bay * Laboratory * Medical Bay * Mundane Locations * Office * Reactor Core ** Coupling Station * Tactical Command Center Internal Defenses Managing an adventure aboard a Battlestation can be tricky. Due to the complexity of the interior, only made worse as the station increases in size, a substantial number of options are available both to heroes and to station personnel. Gamemasters can make their jobs more manageable by assuming that most stations have some of the common Internal Defenses described below. Security Systems Battlestations are not the kinds of locations where adventurers have free rein to do whatever they please. Most stations have complex Security Systems in place to ensure that only authorized personnel can move between certain sections and perform certain activities. A standard Security System is monitored from specialized Control Rooms and is concerned primarily with detecting security violations and preventing unauthorized access to systems. * Security Control Rooms * Security Cameras * Sensors ** Droid Detectors ** Heat Sensors ** Motion Detectors ** Sonic Sensors ** Tripwire Lasers * Automated Defense Systems Alarms and Responses Main Article: Alarms and Responses Most Security Systems that monitor sensitive areas of a Battlestation trigger alarms that warn the station's controllers about tampering or trouble. When an alarm sounds, sirens blare in the room where the alarm originates as well as in the surrounding area. (Silent alarms typically are used only when setting a trap for intruders.) The system also alerts the nearest Security Control Room and other designated Control Rooms, which then issue the appropriate response. Several degrees of alarms can be triggered; each results in a specific response and might raise the Battlestation alert level. The table below shows the response time for different alarms based on the station's CL. Restricted Access In a Battlestation, one of the biggest obstacles faced by adventurers is the difficulty of moving from place to place. Stations restrict access to certain areas to reduce the potential for security breaches and to limit the damage that can be caused by individuals. This section describes common methods for restricting access. Gamemasters can decide whether heroes are able to bypass each restriction. * Standard Doors * Blast Doors * Magnetically Sealed Doors ** Plasma Cutter * Extendable Bridges * Force Fields * Turbolifts * Secret Rooms * Secondary Conduits Control Panels Main Article: Control Panels Several descriptions in this section refer to Control Panels built into walls or doors that can be used for various functions. Gamemasters should plan out these panels carefully because they are the key to granting or denying access to the heroes. Each panel should have an access level to indicate who can use the associated door, hatch, or bridge. To allow any character to use a panel, assign it the lowest access level. To restrict the use of a panel, give it a higher access level that requires an authorization code or a rank cylinder. GMs should consider the limitations they wish to place on the party's access to the station and assign levels of security clearance accordingly. The heroes can manipulate Control Panels by making Mechanics and Use Computer checks. They also can use the computers in Security Control Rooms to try to override normal access restrictions. Computer Systems Computers are the means of controlling every aspect of a Battlestation. As such, they are incredibly powerful and heavily guarded; station personnel make every attempt to prevent tampering. Almost every room has one or more computer terminals, and although they serve different functions, they are linked to a Main Computer system that runs through the entire station. The Use Computer Skill is required to access station terminals, and most Skill Check DC values are a function of the Battlestation's CL. * Main Computers ** Control Room Computers * Alarm System Controls * Communications Controls ** Personnel Systems * Information Systems * Life Support Systems * Sensor Controls * Weapons Controls Station Hazards See also: Hazards, Battlestation Hazards Security and Computer Systems can make adventuring aboard a Battlestation difficult, but the most unique and memorable challenges come in the form of Station Hazards. In essence, Station Hazards are the Star Wars equivalent of traps in fantasy roleplaying games. This section describes some common Hazards that can be used in any Battlestation. Once the Gamemaster has laid out the station locales, adding a Hazard to a particular section modifies that area without changing its basic functionality. Although some Station Hazards might not seem to fit with all locations- for example, the Command Bridge probably would not have a Carbonite Freezing Chamber- most Hazards can be adjusted with a little creativity to work in almost any area. * Carbonite Freezing Chamber * Chasms and Pits * Conveyor Belts * Crushing Damage * Electrified Floors * Gas ** Dioxis (CL 8) ** Korfaise (CL 2) ** Null Gas (CL 12) ** Obah (CL 6) ** Trauger (CL 14) * Gravity Traps * Incinerators * Liquid Cable Traps * Power Diffusion Tunnels * Shock Locks * Trap Doors * Wind Tunnels and Exhaust Vents Prisons and Cell Blocks Battlestations require secure locations for holding intruders, unruly crewmembers, and other threats to the smooth operation of the station. Standard Cells and Detention Blocks are common in most Battlestations, offering an organized method of detaining captives that requires the least amount of space and only a light security crew. * Standard Cells * Detention Blocks * Jedi Imprisonment Devices